Clarendon Hills
Something of a maverick estate found in the heart of McLaren Vale, Clarendon Hills is a small but influential family-run winery. Today, we are delighted to offer a small parcel of their leading wine - the utterly perfect Astralis 2010.
Founded by Roman Bratasiuk, a biochemist by trade, in 1990, Clarendon Hills is a pioneering producer of Australian fine wine. This legendary estate is still shepherded to greatness by this self-taught winemaker, whose obsession with the great wines of the world has seen him produce one of them!
Deciding to focus on single-vineyard cuvées in order to convey the incredible terroirs available to him, Bratasiuk is determined to allow his wines to convey a sense of place. Thoughts of monstrously sweet, extracted, mass-produced Aussie Shiraz should be as far as possible from anyone's mind whilst considering Clarendon Hills. They are simply sublime expressions of varietal and regions.
The 1994 and 1996 vintages are in the "Greatest 1000 Wines of All Time 1727-2006".
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Wine Enthusiast (98)
The flagship of the Clarendon Hills line, this comes from a patch of 80-year-old vines that winemaker Bratasiuk claims routinely provides his best fruit. The 2004 is a stunner, yielding up scents of flowers and spice, framed by hints of vanillin oak. It's dense and amply textured in the mouth, packed with wonderfully expressive blackberry and blueberry fruit, then shows layers of rich tannins on the finish that leave no doubt this needs time in the cellar to show its best. This is a tour de force of Australian winemaking that should be consumed 2010-2025.HK$8,900.00